


Rocket Love

by BlackSansaStark



Series: The Elarisol Universe [1]
Category: Degrassi
Genre: Crack Pairing, Eli and Clare Never Got Back Together, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Season Eleven AU, Yes this pairing is crazy I know, give it a chance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24464419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackSansaStark/pseuds/BlackSansaStark
Summary: A Season Eleven, New Beginnings AU where Eli and Marisol are forced to be partners on a writing project. They hate each other at first, but will feelings erupt between the two?
Relationships: Eli Goldsworthy/Marisol Lewis, Fiona Coyne/Imogen Moreno
Series: The Elarisol Universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767046
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. I Can’t Get Next To You

**Author's Note:**

> The title song for this whole fic is going to be Rocket Love by Stevie Wonder. The title for this chapter is I Can’t Get Next To You by Al Green.

Eli had high hopes for his senior creative writing class especially since the topic was writing about something that changed your life but all it took was one sentence to ruin Eli’s whole week.

“Eli...you’ll be working with Marisol,” Ms.Dawes said casually, as she handed them the rubric for their papers.

Eli blinked at first, the words not registering. Then as Marisol let out a sound of disgust, his own disgust kicked in.

“What? Her?” Eli asked in disbelief. Marisol turned around and scowled at him, but he didn’t care.

“Yes, is there a problem Eli?” Ms. Dawes questioned him, looking at them both with a critical eye. Everyone else in the class also turned to watch him, knowing that he had a reputation of saying anything he wanted to say no matter how rude.

There were fifty million problems with Marisol Lewis, the most obvious being that she was dumb. Incredibly dumb.

“No,” he grumbled, not trying to get detention at all during his senior year. But he felt betrayed by Ms Dawes.

“Better not be, Emo Boy,” Marisol sneered at him, and it took all in him not to say something nasty back in response. He simply glared at the back of her head.

“Good. Working with someone different than you can be an enlightening challenge,” Ms. Dawes stated, and there was a certain glint in her eye he didn’t like.

This was going to be a disaster.

———————————-

“I can’t believe that Ms.Dawes would pair me up with that emo loser,” Marisol complained to Katie as they ate lunch together. Well, Marisol wasn’t really eating her chicken salad. She was actually stabbing around the plate, pretending it was Eli’s face. “You should have seen how he glared at Me. Who does he think he is? I hate him!”

“Well, look at it this way. It’s only a week,” Katie tried to reassure her. But there was no reassuring. The next weeks were going to be awful!

“He might go home tonight and place a demonic curse on me, or perform a satanic ritual so I can lose all of my hair by tomorrow!” She whined, which made her friend roll her eyes.

“A satanic ritual? Really Mare?” Katie asked.

“He crashed his hearse for Virgin Edwards last year, Katie. Have you seen the way he dresses? He probably wears her blood in a necklace, and sleeps with it at night.”

“Wrong, I wear my blood in a necklace before I sleep at night. I also eat infant intestines for dinner every day, and pluck a piece of my enemies’ hair as an offering to Satan. Maybe I’ll use your hair, tonight,” Eli dryly replied as he suddenly appeared right behind her. Marisol jumped in her seat, and then stood up to face him.

“Listen here, Emo Boy. You will not make my remaining time here at Degrassi miserable. I’m not scared of you, or your other freaky friends,” she warned, and she was fully aware that several people in the cafeteria were looking at them.

He scoffed. “Look, it’s bad enough that you make me miserable just by talking and that you and your BFF over there screwed over my friends because you didn’t want to take accountability for the senior prank. Don’t make this any worse than it has to be. Believe me, you already done enough. I’ll text you later to discuss a time we can work on our papers,” he stated before walking away.

She huffed and looked back at Katie, who was rubbing her temples. “Did you just see that? I told you, he’s going to make my life a living hell!”

“I think you’re being overdramatic Mare. Look at the bright side, it’ll only be a couple of weeks and then you don’t have to speak to each other again. Just suck it up and work with him,” her best friend reassured her. Marisol relaxed her shoulders.

“Fine.”

“And who knows, you might come to liiikkkkee Eli. He’s actually kind of cute under all of that eyeliner,” Katie teased.

“Katlynn.”

“Yeah?”

“Find your own way to school tomorrow.”

———————————————

“We didn’t even start working together and I already want to fucking kill her,” Eli snarled as he and the girls watched a movie at Fiona’s loft. He’s been ranting over an hour. “I overheard her saying that I probably sleep with Clare’s blood in a necklace.”

“Not the worst rumors I’ve heard about you,” Fiona remarked as she licked frosting off a cupcake.

“I can’t believe that Dawes picked Marisol out of all people! She knows what kind of writer I am and what I can do. Why would she partner me up with a girl that thinks Baby by Justin Bieber is a masterpiece of songwriting?” He ranted.

“If you want, I can make a voodoo doll of her and stick it all up. Fifi and I still have to come up with an epic plan to get her and Katie off the student council,” Imogen playfully offered.

“No, no. As much as I would love that, I need her alive for the project,” he grumbled.

“Well maybe since she’s dumb as rocks, you can back out of being her partner when she can’t come up with anything good?” Imogen suggested.

“I wish. But no, Dawes thinks that we can bring out the best in each other. Sometimes that woman confuses me.”

“Perhaps, as part of our epic plan to get back at her, you can seduce her. You know, tell her paper is amazing. Or you can pretend to be her new friend and get her to fall in love with you. Then you break her heart and she drops out of high school. Ha! There, I finally found a way we can get our revenge,” Fiona stated cheerfully.

Eli and Imogen both looked at her, disturbed.

“Ew!” Imogen exclaimed.

“There’s no way in hell I would do that,” Eli replied, shuttering. “I’d rather vomit.”

“Come on, you have to admit that Marisol is really pretty even if she is a witch,” Fiona argued.

“Then why don’t you seduce her then with your feminine wiles, Ladykiller.”

“Because I know she’s not into girls. But she might fall for the bad boy that sleeps with his ex-girlfriend’s blood in a necklace. Hence the evil plan,” Fiona explained. “Come onnnnn, Eli.”

“Absolutely not. I’ll just push through this and try not to crash my bike on purpose out of rage,” he rejected with a tone of finality. “Maybe, just maybe she’ll reveal a hidden stroke of genius for her topic.”

As they all went back to watching the movie, Eli couldn’t stop thinking about how much he was going to hate working with Marisol. He barely spoke words to her over the years they attended school together, but he knew she was an absolutely horrible girl, the lowest common denominator. She was a shallow, snobby, ignorant, arrogant cheerleader that slept with other girls’ boyfriends and would throw her own friends under the bus to get a high position. If anything, she was the demon, not him.

Marisol Lewis was exactly the kind of girl that he would never go for.


	2. Show You The Way To Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title song is Show You The Way To Go by The Jacksons.

Marisol arrived at Eli’s house after school like Eli asked her to do. Ugh, she was still disgusted she had to work with him.

She observed the outside of his house. She was surprised that Eli’s house was simple and quaint and in a nice, suburban area instead of a creepy shack in the middle of the woods. After parking her car, she got out of it with her paper and walked up to the front door. She knocked, and a woman that was probably his mother answered the door.

“Hi, are you Marisol? Eli said that you were coming tonight,” the older woman greeted.

Marisol put on her best innocent look. “Yes, I am.”

The older woman smiled widely, and opened the door to let her in. “Oh come on in! I’m his mother. You can call me, Cece!”

“Thank you,” Marisol replied cheerfully as she stepped inside the place. Mentally, she was cringing at everything. Emo boy’s house was definitely a grunge haven. There were posters of rock bands everywhere and she could hear some rock group playing in the background. And looking at what Eli’s mother was wearing....yeah she can tell this was Eli’s mother. She was wearing skull earrings, black eyeshadow, a biker vest, and ripped jeans. Her stepmother wouldn’t be caught dead in such a dreadful look, and wouldn’t be tolerated being called by her birth name either.

“He’s upstairs going over his rough draft. Don’t worry about leaving the door open, we’re not concerned about those kind of things,” Cece said with a wink, and Marisol tried not to shudder at the thought as she climbed up the steps.

Eli’s room was kind of what she was expecting. There were posters of emo groups, skull bedding, a bookshelf full of shit she probably never read in her life, comic books, and creepy decorations. But there weren’t human skulls in his room nor any pentagrams hanging from the ceiling so she was shocked.

Eli was at his desk, indeed looking over his paper, and he didn’t even notice her come in. She coughed awkwardly, and he looked up.

“Hey,” he greeted flatly.

“Hey,” she greeted stiffly back.

“You can sit on my bed,” he said, pointing to it. She kinda didn’t want to. Who knows what he’s done on it? But she complied, and primly sat down on the bed. There was no need to make this situation any more painful.

They exchanged papers, and said nothing to each other as they read.

The first thing about Eli’s paper that irritated Marisol was that it was three pages over the maximum amount. Ms Dawes asked for a maximum of three pages. Eli wrote six because of course he did. And Ms.Dawes would probably let it fly because he was her perfect little pet. He couldn’t do no wrong in her eyes, even if it involved lighting a script on fire for his play. Absolutely sickening.

And then there was the actual content in the paper. There was a whole lot of words in here that she had never seen in her life, and he probably did put them in just to flaunt his intelligence over her. From what she could gather, an event that was important to him was meeting his first girlfriend, Julia. The girlfriend that she heard he murdered and then kept her skull in his room. She found it annoying that he had to describe the whole situation in agonizing detail. There were multiple paragraphs talking about the weather that day, how the sky looked, what he ate for breakfast that morning, what he was wearing, what she wearing, etc. It came across as really unnecessary.

“You wrote about makeup?” Eli asked her in disbelief, breaking her out of her thoughts. She glared at him.

“Not just any makeup, Count Dracula. Black Opal,” she countered.

“It’s makeup. Off all the things you could write about that was important to you, you chose foundation?” He pressed critically. “Why?

“It says in the paper why I did. Let me guess, you read the title, and skimmed past the rest of the paper didn’t you?” She accused.

“Well the title is pretty uninspiring. ‘An Important Event to Me’? Doesn’t grab much attention,” he told her and she pouted.

“And ‘Julia’ does?” She asked him.

“It at least lets the reader know that it’s going to be about a person, and a girl. It’s not basic,” he argued. “The problem is that your paper is just that, basic. There’s no depth and it’s only three pages.”

“Ms. Dawes said the minimum was three!”

“That doesn’t mean you have to only write three pages. That says you don’t care about making an effort.”

“Well, you don’t have to write six pages either, especially when it comes off as rambling and pretentious,” Marisol fired back, and was pleased to see his look of displeasure.

“How it is coming off as pretentious? It’s my words and my experience,” he asked.

“First of all, I can’t understand half of the words you’re trying to say, and then you wasting paragraphs on describing the shape of your girlfriend’s lips,” she explained.

“It’s better than writing simplistic words that are fourth grade level and talking about the name of the foundation you bought. Why is that important?” He fired back.

“Look Goldsworthy, just because the only makeup you care about is that crappy eyeliner you used to wear doesn’t mean the rest of makeup isn’t important to anyone else. I’ll have you know that Black Opal was one of the few makeup companies that had foundation shades that looked good on dark skin black women. You know how hard it is find shades that don’t look ashy on your skin? You wouldn’t because you’re a white boy and you have fifty million shades dedicated to your pasty white skin,” she ranted.

Eli looked at her, and his facial expression wasn’t full of condescension for once. It was actually thoughtful. “Then why don’t you write more about that? That’s a great thing to focus on,” he offered.

She shifted awkwardly. “I don’t know...”

“Well do it. It fleshes out your paper and makes a compelling statement,” he encouraged. It surprised her, how enthusiastic he was about the idea.

She smiled softly. “Okay, but first you have to revise your paper to make it less annoying,” she said, which made him roll his eyes. “Come on, your essay can use some shaving you have to admit that.”

The next hour consisted of them working together on the essays, and by the end of it Marisol hated Eli a little less. He was still an annoying emo boy, but she thought he at least had his heart in the right place. She left the Goldsworthy house with some cheer in her.

———————————————-

“So it turns out that she’s not the huge idiot I thought she was,” Eli said to Imogen on the phone. He was laying on his bed, ready to go to sleep after their conversation was over.

“But she’s still the queen of snakes. I wouldn’t trust her,” Imogen warned on the other line.

“Well yeah, but at least I won’t have the urge to kill myself because of this essay. Her perspective on makeup is actually interesting, and she would be a much better writer if she applied herself,” he stated. He heard her make a gagging sound.

“Are you seriously praising her? I hope she’s not using her feminine wiles to seduce you next, Eli,” she said. He scoffed.

“Don’t be silly, Imogen. You’re starting to sound like Fiona.” Which he noticed that the two of them seemed to be getting really close lately.....

“Fiona’s plan was for you to get her to fall in love with you and crush her tiny dark heart into a million little pieces like she deserves. But I think you’re the next boy she’ll entrap in her talons next,” she replied, and if only she could see how hard he rolled his eyes at that statement.

“The both of you are ridiculous. Goodnight, Imogen,” he said, tired of where this talk was heading.

“Goodnight, Eli. Don’t let the Marisol underneath your bed bite,” she said cheerfully, and then hung up first.

Eli sighed as he put his cellphone down.

The idea of crushing on Marisol was crazy. He still thought of her as a shallow cheerleader that was too hyper focused on lipgloss and earrings. Only difference was that he was now positive that she actually was smart underneath of all that. When it came to her essay, he was only impressed with her ideas after she listened to his advice. Nothing more, nothing less.


	3. Come and Talk To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title is Come and Talk To Me by Jodeci

A week later, Marisol smiled as she looked at the A+ on her paper. Not only did she ace her final draft with Eli’s help, but Ms. Dawes wrote glowing reviews at the bottom. Her main goal in life may be to rule Toronto with an iron fist as mayor, but she might write a super awesome book about her life before that now.

As everyone started to clear out the classroom, she grabbed Eli by his arm who was leaving. “Goldsworthy, wait!”

“Yeah?” He casually asked, flinging his bag over his shoulder.

“I think we should celebrate our perfect grades,” she said, cheerfully.

“How?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“By having chili cheese fries tonight!” She exclaimed.

Eli looked her with apprehension.

“It’s not a date, geez. I get an employee’s discount so everything’s on me,” she offered. “Come on, I can take you right after school if you have nothing else to do.”

He shrugged. “I guess. See you around,” he said before walking away. She smiled excitedly. Hmm, she didn’t know why she was so excited. She would have totally been content with celebrating with Katie if her BFF wasn’t spending time with Drew.

But either way, chili cheese fries sounded great right now.

—————————

“Now you’re going on a date with her to Little Miss Steaks? Eli, are you nuts?” Fiona barked to Eli at lunch.

“It’s not a date, Fiona. In her own words, we are celebrating the grades we got on our essays,” Eli tried to explain, but Fiona simply shook her head in response.

“Immy’s right, you’re Marisol’s next victim. I can’t believe after what she and Katie did to us that you are going on friendship dates with her. Next, you’ll be letting her apply eyeliner for you,” his best friend sneered.

“Enough of that already. What am I supposed to do?” He asked, frustrated.

“Come up with a plan, do something other than be her friend. Whatever happened to Eli, The Master of Evil Plans?” She asked back.

“He died when I decided to talk to a shrink,” he dryly replied. “You’re freaking out over nothing, we may no longer want to kill each other but there’s no way we’re ever going to be buddy buddy.”

“You’re starting to make me doubt that, Eli.”

“Well stop doubting me because if it isn’t you guys, it’s Bullfrog still thinking I’m going to snap at any moment,” he replied tiredly. His father was watching him like a hawk lately, and it was killing the father-son relationship they use to have.

“I’m just looking out for you, Eli. Marisol acts like a sweetheart on the outside to sucker you in, and then she backstabs you. We’re just worried about you,” she explained lightheartedly.

“Whatever.”

——————————

School was out and Marisol was getting her books out of her locker, when she felt a presence next to her. She looked, and it was Owen, who was grinning lecherously.

“Hey, Mare,” he greeted, looking her up and down.

“Owen,” she greeted back evenly as she continued putting her stuff in her satchel.

“You got anything to do tonight?” He asked, and it was obvious that he was looking for a booty call. While she might have been down a couple months ago, she suddenly wasn’t up to it. She smiled thinly at him.

“Yeah, I got plans,” she replied, trying to walk away but he grabbed her arm, and turned her around to face him.

“So that’s it, huh? We fuck a couple times over summer break, and then you just ignore me?” He questioned critically, which made her shrug.

“Kinda,” she answered, which made him snort.

“We have history. We dated twice, we lost our virginities to each other!” He argued loudly, and while most girls would be uncomfortable, she wasn’t. She knew how to handle Owen.

“You cheated on me with two other Power Squad members our freshman year at a party. At the same time,” she reminded.

“I was drunk,” he argued.

“Not that drunk,” she replied, “And then during that brief moment we were back together last year, I found nude pictures of Bianca on your phone.” She was STILL pissed about that one and it made her hate DeSousa. The other girl had a knack for ruining other girls’ relationships.

“She only sent me those because she wanted to see how they looked to Drew,” he explained. She huffed.

“Oh and I bet you guys were strictly platonic, eh? Tell me you guys never fucked,” she pressed him, glaring. The look on his face was all she needed to know. “Look Owen, you’re good for sex and that’s it. Even then, I’m not up to it right now. Go find Bianca or some other Boiler Room Rat, okay? Oh, and weren’t you dating that cokehead?” She asked, folding her arms.

“We broke up, and her name is Anya,” he answered, gritting his teeth. “She’s more than a cokehead, and she’s in the service now.”

“I think I did hear about that. I heard from the other athletes that you were crying when she dumped you. You must have really liked her,” she told him with a giggle. He still cared about this girl, she could tell. He was probably looking for rebound sex.

“I did not cry,” he replied sharply to her. “Anyway, since you think you’re too good for me right now, I’ll go. Hope you have fun, tonight,” he huffed, walking away.

“Believe me, I will!” She replied back cheerfully. Afterwards, she went to go get the Matlin sisters so she can drive them home.

—————————————-

This did look like a date.

They were sitting across from each in a booth at Little Miss Steaks, drinking Pepsi and eating chili cheese fries, which were amazing, Eli had to admit. But he wasn’t sure if he was comfortable with the other patrons thinking that they were on a date.

“So why do you like to write paragraphs about minor stuff, like food?” She asked him, popping a fry into her mouth.

“It fleshes out the scenery, and touches on the reader’s senses. Have you ever read A Song of Ice and Fire?” He asked, and immediately knew it was a stupid question when she just blinked at him. “Well have you ever watched Game of Thrones, it’s adaptation?”

“That show where the brother is fucking his sister, and they got inbred kids? No thanks,” she replied in disgust.

“Hey it’s an amazing show besides that,” he defended, “You should give it a try when the second season airs in a few months. Anyway, G.R.R Martin is master of giving detail about even the most minuscule things to give the reader atmosphere. An excellent writer not only gives the reader a good story, but invoked their primal urges too, and sometimes that primal urge is hunger. Like the food we’re eating right now. If I was writing something about the chili cheese fries, I would describe how it looks, how it smells, how it tastes, and how it feels in your mouth,” he explained.

“Well it’s a good thing we’re eating now, because what you just said made me more hungry,” she replied, this time popping three more fries in her mouth at once.

“You know, I’m surprised you didn’t order a salad,” he commented, a little surprised how quickly she was mowing through her food.

“What, you thought that since I’m a cheerleader that I only eat salad and yogurt all day? I enjoy a nice batch of cheese fries, and I’ll eat almost anything as long as it taste good. You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, Emo Boy,” she replied.

He scoffed. “This coming from the girl that thinks I’m a satanic cultist just by how I dress?”

“Well, when it passes around the school that you crashed a funeral car into a wall, what am I supposed to think?” She asked.

“I listen to heavy metal and rock music. I’m an atheist. I have a Nirvana poster in my room, and they’re my favorite grunge band. I have clothes, bedding, and objects in my room with skulls printed on them. What I don’t have in my room is actual human skulls, the blood of my ex-girlfriends, and a piece of your hair. I do not come from a family of cannibals and we’re all actually nice people,” he explained. He leaned in a little closer to her. “And I’ll tell you something that you don’t know about me...,” he whispered to her.

Marisol leaned in, very close and very curious....

“I’m not actually a vampire that sparkles either,” he confessed.

“Fuck off,” she replied in irritation while he laughed. After a couple seconds, she started to laugh too. They talked more for an hour, learning more about the other.

Neither of them were sure of where this was heading, but what was certain was that an odd friendship was developing


	4. Can I Kick It?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song is Can I Kick It by A Tribe Called Quest

Eli would get killed by Fiona and Imogen if they found out about this, but after Marisol admitted that she never seen an episode of Game of Thrones, he had to act.

“I can’t believe you dragged me into this,” Marisol grumbled while sitting on his bed. It was 10 am on a fresh Saturday morning. The sun was shining brightly outside, and the birds were chirping.

“You are about to witness a master of storytelling. A suspenseful narrative that deconstructs everything you know about medieval fantasy stories and fairy tales. A show filled with interesting characters and shocking twists that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Witness the epicness that is...Game of Thrones,” Eli dramatically announced as the DVD menu for the first season popped up. He pressed play, and prepared himself for an epic rewatch.

Marisol sighed. “I could be eating chocolate chip pancakes from my step mom and catching up on All My Children. Instead I’m over here about to watch an incest show and Katie has to cover for me,” she whined. “This better be worth it or else.”

“It is, trust me. You’ll be obsessed, plus you’re getting free popcorn out of this,” he said as he passed her a bowl of fresh, buttery popcorn.

“Fine.”

At first, Marisol was doing nothing but asking questions, lust over Jon Snow and Robb Stark, and making uncomfortable observations and it drove him nuts. But by the time they were on episode six, she was quietly tuned in to the show, not saying a word.

“So the girl, Daenerys, she’s going to be a badass right?” She asked, as the credits rolled up. Unlike the last time she was sitting on his bed, primly and afraid that she was going to catch something, she was sitting casually on it while swinging her legs back and forth.

“Wait and see,” he answered, smirking. She scowled at him.

“Come on, tell meeeeee. Give me a hint.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Boo, you suck. I have homework to do anyway at Katie’s house,” Marisol said as she gathered her things. Eli kinda didn’t want her to leave.

“Are you sure? Cece’s making dinner tonight and she can cook a mean meatloaf,” he offered. She looked at the time on her phone.

“I guess I can stay an extra hour,” she said, shrugging.

————————

“When Eli said that he was going to have a girl in his room, especially a cheerleader, today I was a little bit worried. The last thing Eli needs is girls in his room right now,” Bullfrog said lightheartedly.

“Bullfrog,” Eli warned, glaring as he ate some peas. His father just stared evenly back at him.

This was awkward as hell.

“I understand Mr. Goldsworthy,” Marisol replied with a sweet smile, cutting into the meatloaf on her plate. Eli had nice parents, certainly nicer than her stepmom, but she could see that Eli’s acts of hearse-crashing and lighting scripts on fire had caused some recent tension in the house. She took a bite out of the meatloaf, and moaned. It actually tasted really good. But it wasn’t as good as her mama’s though.

“Call me Bullfrog, there’s no Mr. and Mrs. in this house,” he told her, smiling warmly.

“So Marisol, what do you at Degrassi? What’s it like for you?” Cece cheerfully asked her.

“Well, I’m Vice President of the student council, and my best friend Katie is the President. I’m also captain of the Power Squad,” she explained.

“That must be an exhausting for you at times,” the older woman replied. She nodded.

“It can be stressful, especially since we’re about to hold tryouts soon, but I can manage it. Whatever it takes, right?” She said cheerfully. Inside, she was screaming though from all increasing pressure. No one needed to know that though.

“Definitely. Did you and Eli ever talk before you guys were assigned as partners?” His mother asked.

“Um...not really,” she answered. “I auditioned for the main role in the play last year, you know the one Eli was co-directing, but I didn’t get the part,” she explained, looking pointedly at Eli. He looked back at her, feigning innocence.

“Oh, because Eli used to talk about you a lot,” Cece replied, which wiped the innocent look off Eli’s face.

“Oh,” Marisol said, “Great things I hope.” She kept her eyes locked in on Eli, who was now shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

“Well...”

“Hey Cece,” Eli cut his mother off, “Can I get the ice cream out of the freezer? Marisol, do you like Rocky Road or Butter Pecan better?”

——————————

After Marisol left and he made her promise to watch more episodes of Game of Thrones, Eli ran up to his room and called Adam.

“Hey man, what’s up?” Adam asked on the other line.

“So Marisol just left my house.”

“Marisol Lewis, the Wicked Witch of Degrassi? That Marisol Lewis?” Adam asked incredulously.

Eli sighed. “Yeah, I invited her over to watch Game of Thrones because she never saw it.”

“So instead of binge watching The Walking Dead with me, you blew me off to hang with Marisol, a girl you hated like two weeks ago? I’m telling Fiona and Imogen!” Adam exclaimed.

“Don’t,” Eli pleaded, “I don’t know why but...I think we’re becoming friends. She’s not actually that bad once you get to know her.”

Adam made kissing noises on the other side, which made him scowl. “Does Emo Guy have a itty, bitty wittle crush on the cheer captain?”

“Adam, shut up,” he snarled, which only made the other boy snicker.

“Eli and Marisol kissing in a tree. K-I-S-S-“

“Adam!” He yelled, and that only made Adam actually laugh louder. “Don’t make me hang up on you.”

“Come on dude, you have to think about how crazy this is.”

“You think I don’t? As soon as she left I started to wonder what the fuck was wrong with me. That’s why I called you, to gain insight. But I see that was a mistake,” he told his friend in annoyance.

“Calm down, geez. I’m just confused as how fast you guys are progressing. Like are you going to be inviting her to the next Death Hand concert?” Adam asked.

Eli snorted. “As if. She would probably shriek in terror if someone touched her. But anyway, don’t tell the girls anything. They would kill me and you know that.”

“Fine, your secret’s safe with me. But you better make it up to me.”

“I’ll buy you every new issue of the Walking Dead for the next three months,” he bargained.

“Deal, bye Eli.”

“Bye,” Eli said as he hung up. Once again, he flopped on his bed.

He knew that Marisol would eventually have to apologize to his friends in order for blood not to be shed. But the issue is if they would accept her apology or not. Imogen was willing to forgive him for he treated her but he was sure it was because she still had feelings for him. Fiona also forgave him quickly, but that was also because he got her an expensive ass trophy.

For them to forgive Marisol, she would probably have to confess that she was involved in the senior prank. Fat chance of that happening but it would have too if he was to be comfortable hanging out with her. And then, where would their friendship go from here?

Eli groaned into his pillow.

Sometimes, it felt like his life was in some melodramatic teen soap opera.


	5. Crush On You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song is Crush On You by Lil Kim. Also somehow this whole chapter is from Marisol’s POV.

Marisol really hated her life right now.

The cheer captain tried her best not to sob in the bathroom out of stress, but the tears wouldn’t stop welling up in her eyes.

First, there was work. Ever since K.C. decided to stop sleeping with her, they barely even spoke. While Marisol knew that it was wrong to be involved with a guy that not only had a girlfriend, but a baby at home, she thought they had a genuine connection. Her lip quivered as she thought of how after they had sex for the first time, he told her of how horrible Jenna was and how she was way better. He seemed so sweet and caring. Up until he dumped her, she thought he would leave his family for her. She felt like a completely idiot now. She should have learned from Owen that boys were absolute trash, all of them.

Speaking of Owen, ever since their recent encounter, she was thinking back on their whole “relationship” with regret. She wished she never hooked up with him over summer break after all the bullshit he put her through. He honestly was not only a terrible boyfriend, but just an awful person in general. She wished she could take her v-card back from him. But she was hurting over K.C. and Drew not picking her, so she went for the next best thing.

Then, there was Katie. With her best friend in the hospital due to her accident, she felt lonely at Degrassi. She had no one to sit with since Drew didn’t like her, and all of the student council duties fell on her.

Which included hearing complaints about the Coffee House constantly, and a lot of the complaints were coming from the rich princess, Fiona Coyne. She wasn’t going to lie, she did steal the Coffee House from her because it did sound like a good idea. And she did understand why Fiona was mad at her over the senior prank fiasco. She would be too if the roles were reversed. But the fact was that she and Katie weren’t going to risk their student council positions over two girls they didn’t know, especially over that weirdo Imogen Moreno.

Even after Katie took over the Coffee House planning and it was a success, due to breaking her knee, Marisol still had to be acting President. So far it was a nightmare, and Marisol wanted Katie more than ever.

Finally, there was Power Squad. It wasn’t anything devastating. It was just that save for a few girls, most of the new recruits were flops.

After crying for a minute, she got a paper towel and dried her face. The tears were not worth the embarrassment that she would die of if word got around that she was crying in The Dot bathroom.

The only person at school that wasn’t causing issues in her life was Eli, who was currently sitting at the table they were sharing at The Dot. He was actually a fun person to be around. Sure he was a little pretentious, and a bit of a huge nerd, but he provided good, levelheaded, insight on things. It helped that he was no longer talking to her as if she was stupid. Hanging out with him was kind of a break on all the craziness.

When Ms. Dawes assigned them homework for King Lear, Marisol “kidnapped” Eli and took him to The Dot so they can work on it together. Thirty minutes in, KC walked in without even saying hi to her and that triggered the crying session.

Sniffling, Marisol left the bathroom and went back to the table Eli was sitting at. He was currently filing out a worksheet for Act One.

She sat down, and Eli looked up. He saw her red eyes and immediately got concerned.

“What’s wrong?” He asked as a waiter brought them milkshakes.

“It’s nothing,” she denied quickly, taking a sip of her vanilla milkshake with caramel drizzle and rainbow sprinkles. She also ordered a giant chocolate chip cookie. It was unhealthy as hell, but she didn’t care. She needed her comfort food right now.

Eli looked like he wanted to say something more, but chose not to do it. “Okay....so without looking at my sheet, tell me what happens in Act I?” He quizzed her.

“So there’s this king, named Lear, who is dividing his kingdom among his three daughters. Whoever loves him the most will get the bigger share. While his older two daughters bend over backwards to say how much they love him, the youngest says that she doesn’t need to prove that she loves him. He gets really pissed and disowns her which is so unfair. The King of France offers to marry her and she accepts. Meanwhile there’s this guy named Edmund, who’s a bastard. He’s mad that his half brother Edgar will inherit their dad’s estate and so he schemes to get rid of him by telling lies about him to their dad,” Marisol answered.

Eli tilted his head. “And what’s the name of the daughters?”

“Goneril...Regan...and Clarissa-I mean Cordelia!”

“Good,” he replied, beaming. It made her stomach flutter for some reason, but that was probably because she was hungry.

As she filled out her own worksheet, she kept looking at K.C., who was talking to Dave, and seemed to looking everywhere but her. Bastard. It was nuts that he and the whole school blamed her for cheating on his baby mama when he CHOSE to sleep with her. She was tempted to grab her milkshake and throw it in his stupid face.

In order to not do that and get kicked out the restaurant before she got her cookie, she turned her attentions on Eli. The dark-haired teen was reading through his copy of the book. “This is just an amazing play, you know. Shakespeare was a master of creating tension and setting up tragedies,” he said.

“I hate tragedies,” she replied, “What’s the point of getting attached to characters if they don’t get a happy ending?”

“Because not everyone in real life gets a happy ending, Marisol. And sometimes a tragic ending serves a purpose. Like Ned Stark dying in Game of Thrones,” he argued, “He trusted the wrong people and it bit him in the ass.”

“Okay but Ned Stark dying still makes me want to cry. Tell me things will get better for the Stark kids,” she pleaded.

He smiled thinly, and she groaned. “UGH!”

“To be fair, the author hasn’t finished the books, but I’m sure he will soon,” he admitted.

“Well where’s the Shakespeare stories that have happy endings?” She asked.

“Pericles, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, and The Tempest. Though I hate Winter’s Tale, I find the plot stupid,” he answered. She had known him long enough to know that if she asked him why he hated it, he would go on a whole rant for an hour.

She did it anyway. “What’s wrong with The Winter’s Tale?”

He took a deep breath before ranting, and the whole time she was focusing on him. She noticed how green his eyes were. He would say they were vibrant. She would say they were pretty, green like the jade earrings her mother liked to wear sometimes. His jawline was also really strong, she realized and it made his chin stand out. His hair, cut short and dyed black, fit his face way better than his hairstyle last year.

Lastly his lips. Overtime, she had really come to like them, especially when he did his signature lopsided smirk. They were full and a strong shade of pink that popped against his tanned skin. She wondered what if they were soft too, or if they tasted good.

She absentmindedly licked her lips, nodding while he talked.

Then he did something totally unexpected, he leaned forward and kissed her passionately on the lips. She gasped, only to open her mouth to let him deepen the kiss. It was totally inappropriate to be making out like this, but did it matter to her? No. Marisol moaned in pleasure as his tongue connected with hers. He didn’t just taste good, he tasted heavenly and she might just faint-

“Marisol!” Eli exclaimed, and she was ripped out of her daydream. It was like someone splashed cold water on her.

She blinked, and Eli was staring at her in confusion while the waiter was holding a plate with the giant cookie on it.

“You ordered the cookie, ma’am?” their waiter asked, putting the plate down and pushing it towards her.

“Uh yeah, thanks,” she replied, giving him an awkward smile. The waiter gave them a thumbs up and walked away.

“Are you okay?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded numbly, before taking a bite out the cookie. Normally biting in the soft and chewy cookie would make her moan in happiness, but she did enough moaning in her fantasy right now.

Fantasy. She had just fantasized about kissing Eli Goldsworthy, one of the weirdest guys at school. Eli, who she called such dreadful nicknames such as Emo Boy, Goth Loser, Count Dracula, Michael Myers, and Marilyn Manson.

Was she getting a crush on him? Oh sweet Jesus, she was.

She was attracted to Eli Goldsworthy.


	6. If You Love Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song title is If You Love Me by Brownstone

Marisol was acting extremely weird ever since the Incident at The Dot.

Eli was wondering what was wrong with her, since she now came off as....distant whenever they hung out together. He suspected it was something K.C. related since he peeped her reaction when he came in the Dot. He didn’t press her about that since it wasn’t his business, but he was concerned. While he at first considered her a homewrecker like everyone else over her sleeping with K.C. while he was with Jenna, he had grown to feel slightly bad for her. He never liked K.C. ever since Clare told him how he treated her during their relationship, so he wasn’t surprised that he continued to treat girls terribly.

Eli bit into the chicken sandwich Cece made him for lunch when Fiona walked over and sat next to him. He greeted her with a handwave.

“Hey.”

“Hi Eli, how are you?” She asked, in a really sweet tone for some reason.

“Great,” He answered, not really looking at her.

“So are you going to take my suggestion on asking out Imogen?”

He sighed. “No Fiona, stop asking.” While he and Imogen have gotten closer after he apologized for treating her like shit during the play fiasco, and he did find her attractive, he couldn’t date her. He hurt her a lot and he felt that being with her would remind him of being in that terrible place he was in after Clare dumped him. No, they were better off as friends. He took a sip of his chocolate milk.

“I see. I guess it wouldn’t cross your mind to date a great girl like Imogen, when you’re shacking up with Marisol Lewis, right?” She asked innocently.

Eli choked on his chocolate milk, coughing roughly and tears welling up in his eyes.

He finally looked at Fiona, like actually looked at her, and her facial expression was terrifying. She was smiling sweetly, but her smile didn’t reach to her eyes. No, actually he could see the anger flashing in them.

It was pretty obvious what needed to happen.

——————

She couldn’t believe she was doing this.

“So what me and Katie did to you guys was so bitchy. It wasn’t right and I‘m sorry,” she apologized to Fiona and Imogen in the student council room.

The other girls were still glaring at her.

“You think saying sorry is going to fix everything? Do you realize how badly this screwed up our semesters? You’re only apologizing because of Eli,” Fiona snarled, angrily pointing at Eli outside who was awkwardly standing around, “You and Katie still keep your positions on the student council.”

“Okay, but I can’t confess because we would lose our positions and it would cause absolute chaos,” Marisol argued.

“So what? You guys pretty much suck at running the council, anyway,” Imogen spoke up, crossing her arms as she stepped closer to her, “You can’t even come up with an event without stealing it from Fiona.”

Marisol bit back a sharp remark at the eccentric girl. “That’s not true,” she denied.

“What are you without Katie, anyway? You prance around this school like you’re some sort of flawless queen who has all of this power but you’re just a dumb bimbo with no real power without Katie carrying you on her back,” Imogen continued with a sneer.

“Fuck you”, was on the tip of Marisol’s tongue but she knew she couldn’t say it out loud. Nor could she reach over and slam Imogen’s face onto the table for that comment. She took a deep breath.

“Fiona, I’ll gladly give you a position on the council as our social event planner. You clearly have the eye for it. Imogen, we can also use you as a graphic designer for events, because I’ve seen your art and you’re really talented,” Marisol offered diplomatically.

“You treated me like crap ever since you met me when I did nothing to you or Katie,” Imogen argued. Marisol was taken aback by the sadness in the other girl’s eyes. Sure she knew that some of her previous remarks about Imogen weren’t kind, but she had no idea they hurt the girl that badly. She just thought Imogen would brush off the comments and go on about her business.

“And I was a total bitch for that. But now I realized that people are more than what they are on the outside, and that I shouldn’t have judged you, I’m sorry for never giving you a chance, please let me and I’ll make it up to you, to the both of you. I can take us all to get mani pedis,” she pleaded.

Fiona and Imogen looked at each other, and then back at her.

“No more bullshit, okay? You’re on thin ice,” Fiona warned, purposely shoving past her with her shoulder. Imogen followed right behind but not before giving her one final glare.

She watched as they talked with Eli, passing a glance at her every couple of minutes. Finally they walked off, and Eli walked in.

“So you guys are probably not going to be BFFs, but at least Fiona and Imogen aren’t plotting to kill you anymore....at least not openly,” he told her, “Your job is to convince them that you will continue to not be the absolute worst.”

“Great...,” she replied, “There’s that.” She was honestly just tired of everything and she needed Katie to come back already. If it wasn’t bad enough that she had to do student council meetings by herself, she had to do the event for Model UN by herself too. And while her new partner Mo wasn’t terrible, he was kinda irritating at times. There was also the fact that she had to look Jenna in the face during the event. They were never going to get along, ever.

“So tonight, Bullfrog is making tacos and he would love it if you joined us. They’re pretty good,” Eli offered, smiling.

She smiled back, albeit sadly. Even if she wasn’t visiting Katie tonight, she couldn’t hang out with Eli until she got over this stupid crush she had for him.

“Sorry, I plan on visiting Katie at the hospital after school, maybe next time,” she told him.

Eli shrugged. “Okay, see you later,” he replied as he left.

Marisol slung down onto a seat, grabbed her satchel, and screamed into it.

Everything was so UNFAIR right now!

————————————————

Later, at home Marisol was doing her trigonometry homework on her bed. To say she was struggling was an understatement. She was never good with any kind of math. Why did she take this class instead of just taking no math classes her senior year? Oh yeah, because Katie told her that if she took it, then she would help her. But Katie wasn’t here, wasn’t she?

Marisol was almost tempted to call her for help, but thought against it. She’ll just go online and search for the answers. She pulled out her phone, and for some bad reason, decided to look through Eli’s FaceRange.

“Mareeeeeeee,” a voice called from down the hallway. Knowing who it was, she ignored it. “Mareeeeee!” It called again, and she groaned loudly.

“Leave me alone, Devon!” She yelled, but it was no use as her older brother waltzed into her room. He was taller than her, with the same skin tone and similar features. She WISHED he had gone off to university when he graduated two years ago, but he decided to be an inconvenience and go to a polytechnic college here instead.

“Where’s my Weezy mixtape?” He asked her, folding his arms.

“Like hell would I know?” She responded with a snarl. She so did not want to deal with him right now.

“You would know since you like fucking with my stuff,” he replied, and then he turned his attention to her phone. “Hey, who’s that on your phone?” He asked, mischief lighting up in his eyes.

“No one!” She exclaimed, only for him to reach over and snatch her phone. She jumped and let out a squeal of rage as the two siblings battled for possession of her phone.

Devon let out a laugh as he pushed her out the way, and ran out her room. He ran down the stairs with her following.

Their mother was cooking a big bowl of spaghetti in the kitchen, when he ran up to her. Both of her children resembled her, but particularly Marisol who was a carbon copy of her.

“Mom, Marisol is messing with another white boy!” He outed her with glee.

“No I’m not, you idiot!” She replied, as they got into another struggle.

“Hey! Don’t bring this arguing into my kitchen while I’m in here cooking,” their mother sharply replied.

“But Mom, look. This one is scary looking compared to the others, see?” He gestured for her to observe as he brushed off Marisol’s attacks.

To her embarrassment, her mother actually took a look at Eli. “Hmm, he looks like one of those goth kids. I didn’t know you were into them now, Marisol. What happened to that other boy, what was his name? Brett?” She asked while stirring the tomato sauce.

“Mama, please. Eli is just a friend,” she pleaded, and finally she was able to snatch her phone back.

“Owen was also just a friend at first,” Devon argued, smirking impishly.

“Shut up,” she barked.

“Wait until I call Dad and tell him,” he teased, which nearly ended on her stepping on his foot.

“Devon, leave Marisol alone,” their mother ordered, but it was no use. He was already up the steps with his iPhone in his hand.

“I hate him,” Marisol snarled.

“You don’t hate your brother. Hate is a strong word,” her mother scolded her while turning off the burner underneath the pot. “Now help me drain the pasta.”

As Marisol helped her finish cooking, she dreamt up of ways to torture Devon. They have always fought like this since as she could walk. Maybe this week, she could steal his phone and send embarrassing childhood pictures of him to his ex-girlfriends. It’s what he deserves anyway. Their little sister Candice, the one Dad had with their stepmom, wasn’t nearly as irritating. She was an angel.

“He’s kind of cute. Cuter than the last boy you liked, K.C.. I don’t see what you saw in that boy with that goofy hair he had, though this one has silly hair too. What is with you and these white boys with bad haircuts, baby? Her mother asked her in concern.

Marisol wanted to scream.


	7. Can’t You See?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song is Can’t You See by Total. Also Marisol also gets another chapter by herself 😭.

Marisol was absolutely giddy when she dragged Katie into the student council room. Finally, Katie was allowed to leave the hospital and come back to school!

“There’s SO much I need to tell you Katie-kins! You need to catch up on everything!” Marisol exclaimed as she pulled a seat for her best friend.

“Calm down Mare, you might put me back into the hospital,” Katie joked as she sat down.

“Well first, we need to come up with an event for the end of the semester. Students are starting to complain. Luckily, we now have Fiona Coyne to help us as social event planner,” Marisol explained.

“She’s apart of student council, um how?” Katie asked her, confused. “She wanted your head for the Coffee House event.”

“Well I...apologized to her and Imogen,” Marisol explained while Katie raised her eyebrow, “....And offered them positions on the council. Imogen is now our poster designer. And I didn’t even have to confess for the prank. Yay!” She finished, somewhat sheepishly.

Katie was looking her a little bit critically, and now she was feeling small.

“And why would you do that? And who did you do it for?” Katie interrogated her.

The answer to both of those questions, walked by the room and waved casually at Marisol. Marisol tried not to melt when she waved back at Eli.

Katie was now looking at her very critically. “Mare...”

“Yeah?”

“You and Eli have been getting close lately...do you like him?” Her best friend asked, folding her arms.

Marisol bit her lip. “No, we’re just friends,” she said.

Katie narrowed her eyes suspiciously, and Marisol sighed. She could never get anything past Katie. “Fine. I do like him, but it’s only a stupid crush. It’s nothing more,” she confessed.

“It doesn’t sound like a little crush to me when you’re apologizing to girls you don’t like, Mare,” Katie said, “You do this thing where when you like a guy, you’ll do anything to impress them. I want you to do better.”

“I am doing better, Katie. Eli’s not that bad at all, and apologizing to Fiona and Imogen was actually for the best. Please Katie, try not to be so negative, you just got out of the hospital,” Marisol pleaded.

“I mean, I guess. Eli’s at least not a football player. You need to stay away from the jocks. Maybe you should date him,” Katie replied with an encouraging smile. Marisol rolled her eyes.

“Please, Katlynn.”

“Oh come on, he may have crashed a hearse for his last girlfriend, but at least he can write a really good play for you. He might challenge you intellectually compared to...well pretty much any other guy you liked or dated,” she offered. Katie made it no secret that she disapproved of or hated all of Marisol’s love interests except Drew for obvious reasons. Owen was the one she hated the most. “You’re a strong, confident, bright, and fun girl. You need a guy that will elevate you, not a loser.”

“Eli likes innocent, genius virgins like Clare Edwards, not cheerleaders,” Marisol argued.

“Then seduce him with your feminine wiles and make him fall for a girl like you,” Katie told her, “If it doesn’t work then screw him!”

Marisol thought it over. Would it be possible for Eli to like her? A couple weeks ago, the answer would have been a strong no and she wouldn’t care but now.....

The bell rung, signaling first period.

Katie rose out of her seat, grabbing her bag. “I have to go take a test with Drew, talk to you later Mare,” she said, leaving quickly.

Marisol sighed before getting up and leaving too.

———-

“So tonight, I have planned a super girl’s night for us. A movie marathon of our favorite high school movies, popcorn and pizza, ice cream, nail polish, pajamas, and makeup!” Marisol offered excitedly. It was lunch time.

Her excitement died when she saw Katie’s face. It was filled with regret.

“Sorry Mare, I actually planned a girl’s night out with Bianca,” she told her.

Marisol looked at her best friend in confusion. “Bianca?” She asked her in disbelief.

“Bianca,” Katie repeated.

“DeSousa. Drew’s ex-girlfriend,” Marisol said, narrowing her eyes.

“I believe that’s the same one,” Katie dryly replied.

“So you’re bailing out on a sleepover with your best friend so you can hang out with the girl that is known around the school for giving your boyfriend top in the Boiler Room and shacking up with gangbangers?” Marisol said angrily, nearly shouting. “Where are you guys hanging out at? A crack den?”

“Calm down, there’s no need for you to freak out. We’re just going to a club,” Katie explained, but Marisol scoffed.

“Is the club a strip club?” She sneered.

“I don’t need to defend myself to you like I’m your child,” Katie fired back.

“Were you NOT grilling me about Eli this morning? Or how about all those times I dated a guy you didn’t approve off, like Owen?” Marisol questioned.

“Owen was a PIG, and will always be a pig,” Katie argued, and the two best friends glared at each other.

Marisol felt a tap on her shoulder, and it was Eli. He was looking awkwardly at them.

“Um...is this a bad time?” He asked, visibly uncomfortable. Marisol quickly put on a mask of cheerfulness.

“No, not at all. What’s up?” She replied cheerfully.

“I was wondering if you would like to study for the test tomorrow at my house tonight? Afterwards, we can eat candy,” he offered warmly. With the way he was looking her with those gorgeous green eyes of his, she couldn’t reject him.

“That sounds like an excellent idea since I actually have nothing else to do tonight. My plans got screwed,” Marisol replied, directing the last part at Katie with sickeningly sweet venom.

“Great! I’ll see you tonight!” He replied enthusiastically as he walked away.

Marisol faced Katie again, who was popping a pill into her mouth.

“I thought your leg was doing fine. Why are you still taking painkillers?” Marisol asked her in suspicion.

“Because my leg still hurts, that’s all,” Katie answered immediately.

“I heard that OxyContin is an addictive drug,” Marisol replied, and her anger was now replaced with concern.

“It’s not that serious, Mare,” Katie reassured her.

Somehow, Marisol didn’t believe her.

————

Well, at least they tried to study.

“UGH! You ASSHOLE!” Marisol shouted angrily as a blue spiked shell hit Peach, her character in first place.

Eli cackled evilly as Bowser, his character, stole first place and drove over the finish line. He looked at her smugly as Bowser was awarded the gold trophy on his pedestal.

“It sucks to suck doesn’t it?” Eli teased her. This was the third round of Super Mario Kart, and the third round she lost. Enough is enough.

“Fuck you,” she snarled, only for him to playfully stick his tongue out. “Can we play something else on your Super Nintendo?”

“Like what? I bet I can beat you on every game that I have,” Eli scoffed.

“Do you have Street Fighter?” She asked.

“Uh yeah, but you would lose at it,” Eli stated smugly.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Emo Boy. Since you’re so confident, pop the game in,” She challenged.

“Alright then, Princess,” he said confidently before reaching into his game collection.

An hour later, Marisol was smiling arrogantly as Chun Li reigned superior over Blanka. Eli was scowling.

“How?” He demanded.

“I play some video games too, though you better not spread it around or I’ll rip that pretty hair of yours out,” she warned.

“You wouldn’t dare, you like me,” he shot back.

“I tolerate you,” she denied playfully.

“You wound my heart, Marisol Lewis,” he mockingly cried out.

“You’ll get over it,” she countered, though she found his antics adorable.

“But I can’t. Not until you apologize to me,” He demanded, staring into her face innocently with a pout.

She couldn’t stop staring at his lips, and before she knew it, she was kissing him. Eli froze up immediately, and she pulled back quickly. His lips were just as soft as she expected them, and she loved it.

“Woah....” Eli began, his eyes wide with shock, “Um...”

“How’s that for an apology?” Marisol asked playfully.

“I think you should go,” he ordered, turning away from her uncomfortably. Her mouth dropped.

“But-“

“Please. I’ll give you the notes before class,” he said, not looking at her.

Her lip quivered as she rose up, gathering her things. She numbly left his room, walked down his steps, and exited his house.

She cried when she got inside her car.


	8. Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The full chapter of the preview. As mentioned before, song is Stay by Jodeci.

“So I told her to leave,” Eli finished, panting heavily.

Fiona didn’t say anything at all during his rant. She just listened to every word, patiently waiting for him to finish. Now that he was, she spoke.

“I knew you were walking into fire, Eli. I’ve been telling you that Marisol was going to entrap you for weeks,” she told him, and he knew she wanted to tell him “I told you so”.

“Well she didn’t entrap me. She kissed me out of nowhere, and I kicked her out and ignored her calls,” he argued.

“Which is a bad thing to do considering she’s the most popular girl in school and can easily ruin your life,” Fiona replied evenly.

“I don’t give a shit about that,” Eli said.

“I doubt that, especially since you do care about her, and you have doing nothing but either spending time with or praising her to me and Imogen until our ears bleed. You just told us recently that when she smiles, really smiles, it’s one of the most beautiful things. Did you really not like the kiss, or are you scared?” Fiona questioned, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Don’t be ridiculous. She’s not my type and she’s out of my league,” Eli replied, glaring and gritting his teeth.

“Don’t give me that excuse. Not when you were so happy when we accepted her apology. Even if we didn’t, you would be getting milkshakes at The Dot with her after school, and keeping it behind our backs because you can be a sneaky little bastard at times,” Fiona scolded him, “Look, I still don’t like Ms. VP but I won’t allow you to make yourself miserable because you can’t come to grips with liking Marisol. If you were truly out of her league, she would have not kissed you and would be probably tonguing down another football player right now. Apologize to her, date her, makeout with her, whatever. Just fix it,” she commanded.

“I can’t. I have to avoid her until she gets over this, and maybe we can repair our friendship,” he rejected. Fiona made a noise out of frustration, and Eli himself groaned as he somehow got in trouble with his best friend again.

“You know, Eli? For such a smart guy, you can be such a fucking idiot sometimes.”

————————————-

“Eli, come downstairs! There’s someone demanding you come outside. They sound pretty mad,” Bullfrog called from down the steps.

Eli, who was doing his homework in his room, closed up his textbook in confusion. The raven haired boy got up and walked down the steps to where both of his parents were staring at him weirdly.

He opened the front door to reveal a young black guy. He didn’t look much older than him, and wore glasses. He was smiling, but in a way that a killer did before they slit a person’s throat.

“Are you Eli Goldsworthy?” The guy demanded. There was something about him in his facial features that looked familiar.

“Uh yeah,” Eli replied.

“So you’re the guy that’s been hanging out with my sister, correct?” The other guy interrogated, and somehow the temperature in the air dropped.

Eli blanched as he realized who this was and why he was here. _‘Shit, shit, SHIT’,_ he thought to himself.

“Ye-yeah-yeah,” he replied nervously, stuttering.

“I’m Devon, Marisol’s older brother. You see, something funny happened the other day. My sister came home crying and said that a guy, which is you, that she felt liked her kicked her out of the house when she kissed him. So you led her on,” her brother told him in a really fake, friendly tone.

“She caught me off guard,” Eli tried to explain himself, “And even then, we can’t be together. We run in completely different social circles and-“

“Look man, I really don’t give a fuck about what your excuses are when it comes to Mari. She’s an irritating little imp, but that’s my sister. You have until Monday to apologize to her before I come back here. Trust me, you will be handled,” her brother threatened before walking away. Eli watched in fear as Devon drove off in his car.

Eli stood there for a moment, and then sighed as he shut the door. Shit. That’s the only word he can describe his feelings on the situation. Shit.

He walked his way up the steps, walked into his room, and fell face-first onto his bed. Shit.

He heard someone come up the steps and somehow he knew it was his mother. She walked into his room and gently sat down on his bed next to him.

“That guy sounded very angry, sweetie. What happened?” She asked.

“Mare kissed me,” he answered and then cringed. He shouldn’t call her that because that would imply intimacy that wasn’t there. Marisol, her name is Marisol. He turned over so he could face his mother. She had an unsurprised look on her face.

“Well, did you like it?” She prodded.

He couldn’t stop thinking about it. In addition, no matter how many times he licked his lips, the taste of bubblegum-flavored lipgloss would not leave and he didn’t think he wanted it too.

“I didn’t want to,” he answered.

“But you did. Why don’t you want to like it?”

He groaned. “She’s the most popular girl at school, the head cheerleader, and I’m the edgy emo guy. We wouldn’t last long and it’ll be a waste of time. Plus our friend groups hate each other,” he explained, then flinched as Cece flicked his forehead. “Ow!”

“Tell me, when did my baby care about what other people think?” She asked, and her tone was half accusatory, half teasing.

“I don’t care about what other people think. I’m just being a realist. This is just a tiny crush she has on me, it’ll pass and she’ll hang out with the jocks again,” he argued. Probably Owen at that since he was now single.

Cece stared at him thoughtfully. “You know, I was a cheerleader in high school too.”

He sat upright at that, and he raised his eyebrow in disbelief. His mother, a cheerleader? The same woman who sang Metallica, Janis Joplin, and Joan Jett to him as lullabies? Cece, who told him to marry a woman that can chug down three cans of beer like it’s nothing?

Cece giggled at his shocked face. “I know it sounds crazy but I was. I was the captain in fact. I was a very shallow and vapid girl, and looked on all of the weird kids because I couldn’t be who I wanted to be. When I met your father in college, I hated him at first but he brought out a side of me that I didn’t know I had and it was history. I’m not saying this girl might be the same way, but give her a chance. She seems like a really sweet girl and I think she would be good for you, honey,” she explained.

Eli thought over her words. Despite the outward denial, he knew he was growing feelings for Marisol. Underneath the lip gloss, the poms poms, and her Queen Bee exterior was a surprisingly sharp and sweet girl, that was absolutely stunning.

“I’ll help you pick out an apology gift,” Cece promised, grinning. She kissed his forehead and walked out his room.

Eli stared the door before sighing again and flopping back down onto his bed.

After the kind of girls he’s been involved with, if someone told him that his latest crush would be a bubbly cheerleader, he might have actually called them a moron.

Fuck.

———————-

The tears have long dwelled up in her eyes, but her eyes were still red from crying all night. There were so many people she was angry at right now. Fuck Owen Milligan, who was still trying to get her to fuck him again because he was missing his cokehead girlfriend. Fuck K.C Guthrie for fucking her then ignoring her so he can crawl back to his babymomma. Fuck Jenna Middleton for being K.C.’s babymomma in the first place, and acting all high and mighty like she didn’t steal her best friend’s man and get pregnant by him. Fuck Bianca DeSousa for getting Katie drugs, and fuck Katie actually for getting addicted to painkillers and then having to go into rehab, therefore making her take on the pressure of running student council by herself all over again. It didn’t even last a fucking week. If anyone ever said again that she couldn’t last a day without Katie, she might actually slam their face into a locker.

But most of all, fuck Eli Goldsworthy.

Marisol Lewis delivered the morning announcements by herself again with an almost vicious bite in her voice. She will say it again, fuck Eli Goldsworthy. She couldn’t believe he would just walk away after she worked up the courage to kiss him? She was risking her social standing to be with him and he made her look like a fool. Well, she would show him that she didn’t need his weird ass anyway.

She said a quick bye to the other student council members and picked up her bag. Marisol straightened up her posture and walked out the room....

To see Eli waiting for her with a bouquet of daisies, her favorite kind of flower.

“Fuck off,” she snarled, intending to walk past him.

“Marisol, wait!” He grabbed her wrist and stopped her. “I’m sorry for what happened on Friday. You caught me off guard and I didn’t know how to react.”

She glared at him, wanting him to feel how hurt she was. There were a million things she wanted to say to him right now, none of them pretty.

“I’ll make it up to you. How about a date at The Dot, tonight?” He offered, extended the flowers to her. She took one whiff of them and fell in love with them immediately. Dammit.

“I’ll pay for everything,” he continued, and that’s when she decided to accept. She sighed at the fact that this Emo Boy had her wrapped around his finger even when he did her dirty.

“Fine. What am I wearing?” She asked him.

“What are you wearing? Whatever you want I guess,” he answered, shrugging. “Why does it matter?”

“Well I like to be prepared so my outfit is appropriate for the setting.”

“Then dress casual. It’s the Dot, not a sushi place,” he told lightheartedly.

“Okay Mr. Goldsworthy but you better make it worth my while,” she replied, finally taking the flowers. He simply gave her one of his signature lopsided smirks and walked away from her.

Marisol took another sniff of the daisies, and sighed in content. Regardless of it, she loved flowers so much, especially daises. It was sweet of him to remember that she loved them.

Maybe she could give Eli another chance.


	9. I Like The Way (The Kissing Game)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song is I Like The Way (The Kissing Game) by Hi-Five

Marisol laid out multiple outfit combinations on her bed. She was only in a towel and shower cap as she tried to figure out what to wear on her date with Eli.

‘Should I wear all black?’ She thought to herself as she picked up a black top , black fishnet tights, and a black miniskirt with ruffles. Then she changed her mind and put the outfit down. Eli would go back to thinking of her as a bimbo again if she tried to dress like him, and that’s the last thing she wanted to happen. Looking back at it, she was ashamed of herself trying to copy Drew’s every move on their date.

She then looked at a white blouse, sheer stockings, and a red dress skirt. Very nice, sexy actually, but he said casual. Perhaps she would wear it for a date at a higher quality restaurant. If there was another date that was. First she had to see if he was actually a good match for her beyond being fine as hell.

She set her eyes on a pair of black jeans, a rainbow colored jacket, and a yellow top. No way, that’s too casual. She wanted to still impress him after all.

Finally, she looked at a long-sleeved pink sweater dress, brown tights, and long chocolate colored boots that was woolly in texture. Perfect, not too casual or too formal.

It took her an hour to get ready, mostly because she was debating how much makeup she was going to put on. She couldn’t cake on too much even though she wanted to. She decided to just use concealer instead of foundation, lip gloss instead of lipstick, and chose not to wear any eyeshadow at all. She couldn’t go without mascara though.

Marisol spun around in the mirror, admiring herself in the mirror. She looked hot no matter what she was wearing. Eli was going to love it.

Now she had to curl her hair next.

———————-

Eli arrived first on his bike. He was actually kind of..nervous. Moreso than the usual first date jitters. This was Marisol Lewis, cheer captain, Vice President, and one of the scariest girls at the school.

‘She’s not all that scary once you get to know her. You already know that,’ he thought to himself as he sat in a table by the window.

He heard a door open and looked up to see Marisol confidently stride towards him, looking really nice.

“Goldsworthy,” she greeted, taking a seat across from him.

“Lewis,” he smoothly greeted back as Peter, their waiter, came by and took their orders. He ordered a burger, fries, and a vanilla milkshake while she ordered a grilled chicken wrap and a strawberry milkshake. Peter and Marisol looked at each other oddly before he walked away.

“What was that about?” Eli asked her. She awkwardly tapped her fingers on the table.

“Nothing,” she replied quickly. He gave her a look, and she sighed.

“Fine. The last time I was on a date, it was with Drew, and I copied everything he did. He...um ordered a tuna wrap with a scoop of strawberry ice cream on top and garlic salt and I ordered the same just to make him happy. Peter was our waiter that time, and I told Drew that it’s best if I don’t think for myself,” She explained in embarrassment.

“Wow,” he replied, snickering. “I don’t think that sounds appetizing.” It made her pout in response.

“It wasn’t. Look, I was following my step-mom’s advice. She always told me that a woman is supposed to follow everything a man does, even order the same food as him,” she said, shrugging. He raised an eyebrow at that. Her step-mom sounded like an idiot.

“I know what you’re thinking, and yes my step-mom is a total bird brain. The only thing she’s good for is cooking,” Marisol grumbled. “Anyway, I bet you have some embarrassing date stories, Mr. Perfect.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eli denied with a smirk.

“Come onnnnnnnn Goldsworthy, tell me.”

“Fine, at the end of my first date with Julia we tried to kiss but our noses bumped. Mines even started to bleed,” he confessed reluctantly.

Marisol giggled and Eli tried to his best to scowl at her, but soon relented and laughed with her. Time passed as they shared stories with each other. They were both a bit surprised with how well they were connecting. They continued to talk as they received their food.

The manager, Spinner, came by and asked how was their meal. He noticed Marisol and smiled widely to her physical discomfort.

“Hey! You’re that girl that ordered the weird tuna wrap with ice cream on it with that other kid! How was that by the way? “ He asked cheerfully. Eli smirked at her while she shrank in her seat.

“It tasted great,” Marisol replied cheerfully, but he could tell she was faking it.

“Glad to hear. It sounded crazy as hell to me, and even the cook was disgusted at the idea, but you guys seemed to enjoy it. Ahh, the crazy thing kids eat these days ,” Spinner stated, shaking his head and chuckling as he walked away. She turned to face Eli, and glared at his grin. “Shut up.”

Eli escorted her back to her car after they left the Dot.

“So is this the part where we kiss?” He asked, nudging her playfully.

“You’re not supposed to kiss on the first date,” Marisol teased, though stepping closer.

“You already kissed me though,” Eli replied, holding up her chin. Butterflies cropped up in her stomach. She bit her lip in anticipation.

“You didn’t kiss me back,” she argued, her stomach fluttering.

Even though she didn’t see it coming, she was still caught off guard when Eli pulled her into a searing kiss. She responded quickly though and opened her mouth so he could kiss her even deeper.

He pulled away from her. “Did that make up for last time?” He asked her, smirking.

“Hmm...I don’t think so. I think I need another kiss,” she teased before kissing him again.

They wound up making out in her car for an hour.


	10. Don’t Let It Go To Your Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song is Don’t Let It Go To Your Head by Jean Carn

Do I have to wear black lipstick, now?”

“No.”

“Black nail polish?”

“No.”

“Black eyeshadow?”

“No.”

“Black lingerie?”

“Actually yes...I’m a satin with lace kind of guy.”

Marisol whacked Eli with a pillow as he laughed. “Pervert!” She exclaimed, but not seriously. They were on his bed.

“What? You asked me!” He shot back, playing innocently.

“That doesn’t mean you’ll ever see me in lingerie, Goldsworthy,” she teased.

“But it’s a nice thought,” he stated seductively, before going over and kissing her on the neck. She closed her eyes in bliss.

“Hmm, maybe if you watch another movie with me,” she offered.

“I’m not watching another Tyler Perry movie with you, Mare,” he turned down as he kissed along her jawline.

Their lips met in a gentle kiss. “Please? They’re so funny,” she pleaded, kissing his nose.

“Nope. That last one you made me watch, Madea’s Big Happy Family? That’s one of the worst movies I had ever seen in my life and I sat through the theatrical cut of Daredevil,” he told her flatly.

She pouted at him.

“Put that lip back in,” he warned jokingly, only to jump when she poked him in the belly.

“Or else what?” She pressed. She squealed loudly when he started tickling her. She playfully tried to fight him off, but it was no use as Eli quickly gained dominance. He pushed her down on the bed and slammed his lips onto hers.

She could only moan as they passionately kissed.

———————-  
Marisol was absolutely giddy on the way to school. Eli made her SO happy during such a difficult time, which was so unexpected but in a good way. He was caring, sweet, interesting, a great listener, attentive, and an amazing kisser. Last night left her in a great mood, and nothing could kill it...

...Except a mob of students complaining outside the student council office.

Her, Mo, Fiona, and Imogen were backed up into a wall as the students shouted all of their complaints at them all at once. Marisol tried to calm them all down but it was no use.

“Katie said that she’ll ask Simpson about the uniforms!” A student whined.

“What the fuck are we actually supposed to do about that?” She wanted to reply but she knew she couldn’t. “Well, Katie is unfortunately not here and the uniforms are here to stay for now,” she diplomatically replied.

“Where are all of the fun events you guys said you had planned for us?” Another girl demanded. “We didn’t do shit this semester!”

“She has a point you know,” Fiona remarked to her, “The only fun thing we did this semester was the Coffee House and that wasn’t completely your idea wasn’t it Marisol?” Fiona asked, fluttering her eyelashes innocently but her tone was completely petty.

“Since Vegas Night and Prom ended in violence, Simpson has banned any after school events other than the Coffee House,” Marisol explained, but the arguing amongst the mob only grew louder.

“Well I have an idea. Why don’t we have a winter carnival?” Fiona offered, and everyone in the room stared at her.

“A what?” Marisol asked her in disbelief.

“An end of the semester winter carnival! We can sell the tickets for $2 and the whole thing will come out of my pocket. Student council won’t have to pay for ANY of this. We can call it the winter frostival!” Fiona explained excitedly.

“But after-school events are banned....,” Mo replied in confusion.

“We can workaround that by planning it during daytime on Friday since the school will let us out early,” Fiona said, and Imogen nodded.

Marisol nearly scoffed. Of course, the princess thinks she can solve every problem by throwing money at and her little girlfriend supports that attitude. She noticed how the two were practically attached to each other and there were something...homoerotic about it as Eli would say. She was pretty sure the whole school noticed the vibes between the two at this point.

Nevertheless, she didn’t let her disdain for the idea outright show. “Talk to Simpson about it and make sure everything is together by Thursday,” she ordered Fiona, who smiled victoriously.

Maybe if this carnival took off and wasn’t a massive flop, she wouldn’t hear complaining for the next two months. Maybe.

—————-  
“Be on your best behavior, Eli,” Marisol warned as she unlocked the front door to her house.

Eli rolled his eyes at his girlfriend. “When am I not?” He asked as he followed her inside.

He was in awe of Marisol’s home. It was very elegant inside with expensive looking furniture, large chandeliers, a big fireplace, various art pieces on the walls, and a wooden floor with an elaborate design. It almost felt like he was in a mansion. ‘I can see why she acts like a princess now,’ he mused.

“Shoes off, now,” she ordered, kicking her own loafs off. He complied without arguing, placing them up against the white walls. She grabbed his hand and led him to the living room. “After Owen, my mom refuses to allow my boyfriends in my room when she’s not here. We’ll have to stay down here,” she explained as they sat down on a black sofa that was amazingly soft.

“You dated Owen?” He asked her in disgust. He wasn’t disgusted at her specifically. It was just that the idea of anyone dating or being associated with the asshole that bullied Adam and was besties with Fitz made his skin crawl. He had to take a few classes with that prick and he was just a flat out dumb, obnoxious, misogynistic pig.

“Almost my entire freshman year until he cheated on me with two Power Squad members at a party. Dated him again for two months during junior year that I wish I could take back,” she replied as she turned on her very big flat screen tv. Some reality tv show popped on the screen, and the picture was vibrant and crystal clear. “He was my first high school boyfriend, and the first guy I really liked, okay? I know he’s a horrible guy but he can be a real sweetheart at times.”

“Sure,” he scoffed.

“Anyway, is your bestie Fiona really going to have the money to put together a whole carnival before Friday? Because it’s looking to me that she and Imogen are just using this opportunity to make me look bad,” she asked, folding her arms.

“It sounds crazy but I know Fiona can make it work. She knows how to make magic. And be nice,” he replied while poking her in her arm, “I want you all to be civil.”

“I am being civil. If this event flops, the shame will follow the student council until we all graduate and I’m trying not to have that since I’m acting president until Katie gets back. She doesn’t need the extra stress!” Marisol argued.

“Just work with her okay? And maybe I’ll let you pick the movie next time,” he offered.

“I will have no problem working with Fiona but if she fucks this up, I’m not only killing her and Imogen but also you for making me trust her.”  
—————

Two days later, Marisol was planning a double homicide.

Yesterday, because of Eli she was starting to have hope for the frostival. Despite the disbelief she expressed when she saw that not only did Fiona rent carnival games and concession stands but freaking RIDES too, she still put her reluctance aside when she saw Fiona and Imogen raise a shit ton of money for the event by selling tickets to everyone. It was an exciting scene and they kind of looked cute together.

But today, after talking with Fiona, she was one hundred percent positive that Fiona did not have the money to pay off the company that was providing the carnival attractions. That meant no “frostival” on Friday even though pretty much the entire school bought tickets. That also meant eternal embarrassment for the student council. She wouldn’t be able to show her face for weeks. She might have to delete all of her social media accounts and leave Toronto after graduation.

As Marisol walked down the school hallway, plotting millions of ways to hurt Fiona and Imogen after the event flops, she found a sight that only made her more pissed off.

Eli was chatting enthusiastically with Clare, his ex-girlfriend. They were just being all cutesy with each other, at least in her eyes.

She watched as Clare accidentally dumped soup on Eli’s legs, and him jumping up in pain as a result. When Clare was wiping down his pants and was getting a little too close to his crotch for her liking, she coughed loudly.

Like two deers in headlights, they stopped and looked at her. She hoped they were scared.

“Marisol,” Clare greeted stiffly.

“Clare,” she greeted back thinly, “and Eli. How’s it going?”

“Marisol, wait,” Eli pleaded as he got up. “I can explain-“

“Not in the mood right now,” Marisol snarled as she walked past them.

Now she was planning a triple homicide.


	11. Fantasy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song is Fantasy by Mariah Carey

For a moment after Marisol left, Eli and Clare just sat there in silence by the J.T. Yorke memorial.

“Fuck,” Eli muttered, shaking his head. After three girlfriends, he knew what was going to happen when a girl was mad at him. Julia would outright yell at him no matter if it was in public or private. Clare would coldly rebuff him. Marisol seemed to behave the same way as Clare.

“So, you’re really dating Marisol?” Clare asked him in a tone that surprisingly wasn’t in disgust, just in curiosity.

“Yeah,” he replied evenly.

“She doesn’t seem like your type,” she said.

“I know, but there’s something special about her,” Eli told her, smiling softly. “I learn something new about her everyday and I love it.”

“I’m happy for you, Eli. You’ve had such a difficult time last semester and I felt that I couldn’t help you. I’m sorry for everything,” she said sorrowful.

“It wasn’t you, it was me. It was always me,” he rejected, looking into her blue eyes. They were still pretty, like a clear sky. However he had come to love Marisol’s dark brown eyes just as much as it was rich and soft like the earth.

“You were mentally unwell, and that’s okay. I won’t hold that against you. We may not be together anymore, but I’ll always be here if you need me. We can still be friends,” she reassured him, squeezing his shoulder.

“You got it, Edwards,” he accepted, giving her his signature smirk. He would always have love for Clare even if the feelings weren’t there. For a brief time, she was a bright spot in his life, and their bond was special. “We’re not going to have an epic romance, but we can have an epic friendship. I’m sure Adam is going to love all of us hanging out together again without any drama.”

“Exactly, now go and make up with your girlfriend,” she commanded, smiling warmly.

When school let out on Friday, Marisol was looking around at the Frostival, impressed. Fiona Coyne really did pull everything off, and she wouldn’t need to kill her. Perhaps they can even be friends!

The line was around the block with excited students and even guests. This was absolutely going to be talked about for years to come, and she was lucky to be apart of it.

She turned around and stiffened as Eli walked up to her with a another bouquet of daises in his hand.

“For you, my lady,” He greeted as he offered her the flowers.

“Why were you with Edwards on Wednesday?” She demanded out of him immediately.

“I was working with her on the school paper, Mare,” he explained, “I’m sorry for not telling you but that’s all it was. I like you, and I want only you.”

“You were so in love with her last year, Eli. Everyone could see it,” she argued, feeling incredibly insecure inside. “She’s like the perfect girl for you. She’s sweet, innocent, and a bookworm.”

“And you’re strong, confident, fun, and gorgeous. I don’t care that we’re not alike, I like you for who you are now,” He told her, boldly.

She bit her lip as he held the flowers closer to her. Even with the cold air, she can still smell the strong scent of the daisies. She sighed, Eli had her again.

She took them as Eli stepped closer to her.

“I know this is late but Marisol Lewis, will you be my date to the Winter Frostival?” He asked her with a hopeful smile as students crowded the area.

”Fine. You’re lucky you’re cute,” she joked.

“I’m more than cute, and you know it,” he boasted, “Why did you call me the other night after we made out? Your sexy emo bear,” he teased.

“You’re already on thin ice, Eli, don’t push it,” she warned half-heartedly.

———————-

The couple spent the next several hours having a great time, eating food in between riding attractions and playing games. Eli discovered that his girlfriend was kind of a chicken when it came to rides as she clung to him, closed her eyes, and screamed on every thrill ride they rode together, even on the pirate ship. She was especially salty over him convincing her to ride the Graviton, knowing how crazy it was. She pouted for a few minutes after when they rode the swings next. It was all in good fun though, and he found it adorable whenever she buried her face into his chest.

She made him take a video of her riding on the carousel since he refused to ride with her, giggling the whole time while she rode around. Afterwards they trash talked each other as they bumped into each other repeatedly while riding the bumper cars. They trashed each other even more when they were competing to win carnival prizes. He won most of them. She was incredibly sore about it. She pouted even more until he kissed her to make her feel better.

When the sky was dark later, and the Frostival was almost over, they walked around the fairground, holding hands.

“I can’t believe you’re going to New York,” she whined, holding a giant pink pig that he gave her after winning the water gun game. She decided to name it Cuddles to his amusement.

“It’s only for a few days, and then I’ll be back,” he reassured her.

“But who will I be kissing on until then?” She continued to whine.

“Cuddles, duh. Just no tongue or he’s going in the meat grinder when I come back,” he threatened jokingly.

“You wouldn’t dare,” she challenged.

“You should know by now that I absolutely would dare,” he replied nonchalantly.

Marisol happened to look up at the Ferris Wheel when she gasped, stopping where she was. Eli looked at her in concern before he followed up where she was looking. His eyes widened.

Fiona and Imogen were making out on the Ferris Wheel.

“Woah,” he commented even though he shouldn’t be surprised. He knew about Fiona’s crush on Imogen for quite a bit. He was actually very happy for them and couldn’t wait to gloat to Fiona about being right.

“I knew they were totally in love with each other but wow,” Marisol added. “I wasn’t expecting a Ferris Wheel tongue swapping session.”

“We were just doing that when we were on Ferris Wheel though,” he replied. Pretty much every couple did the same thing. Simpson’s reaction was pretty hilarious when he came across and saw it.

“I’m calling them Fimogen,” his girlfriend decided. Eli rolled his eyes playfully.

“And what are we?” He questioned.

“Elarisol,” she answered enthusiastically.

His dad drove up in his car, and beeped his horn.

He sighed. It was time to go.

“I’ll miss you so much,” she replied sadly.

“Just think of this every night until I come back,” he stated before grabbing her.

He kissed the girl he came to care so much for in the cold night.


End file.
